The purpose of this study was to make a reflective examination of this researcher(an art teacher)'s process of turning into a teacher as a researcher through project learning in an effort to shed light on changes brought about by the experience and th...
The purpose of this study was to make a reflective examination of this researcher(an art teacher)'s process of turning into a teacher as a researcher through project learning in an effort to shed light on changes brought about by the experience and the meaning of the changes.
Van Manen's hermeneutic-phenomenological method, one of qualitative research methods, was adopted to get a profound grip on this researcher's experience as an art teacher during project learning.
The subjects in this study were a pedagogista, an atelierista, four teachers and three groups of children participating in art activities. The pedagogista, atelierista and teachers were selected from Atelier Education Research Institute, and the three groups of children respectively consisted of four seven-year-olds, five 10-year-old children and three 10-year-old children. This study was conducted during four semesters from the first of 2007 through the second of 2008, two or three days a week. And three mid-term projects were implemented in 16, 11 and 16 sessions respectively from July 12, 2007, to September 20, 2008. After utilizing journalling and recording every activity with the children and team teaching conference, reflective writing was carried out.
As a result of reviewing all the records on project learning, four different themes were selected: 'authentic and professional backup strategy,' 'bolstering pedagogic factual knowledge,' 'new discovery of children,' and 'reshaped teacher identity by reflective self-examination.' Subthemes were selected for each of the themes, and various texts appropriate for the selected subthemes were extracted from the collected data. The subthemes for each of the themes were as follows:
<Authentic and Professional Backup Strategies>
- Desperate need for authentic teaching strategies
- Contextual understanding of support strategies and gathering support strategies
- Preparing for the next activity: hypothesis formulating
- Being ready to turn into a teacher as a researcher.
<Bolstering Pedagogic Factual Knowledge by Team Teaching Conference>
- Taking a new look and approving of differences
- Converting vague knowledge into pedagogically applicable one: the significance of giving meaning to activities
- Serving as an academic guide like a lighthouse instead of merely remaining as a guide of daily routine life.
<New Discovery of Children>
- Children who makes teachers newly awakened
- Children who are ready to receive something new and strange
- Children who are unconventional.
<Reshaped Teacher Identity by Reflective Self-Examination>
- Getting a chance to introspect and look back on oneself
- Reflection and self-examination as the source of change
- Building a new identity as a teacher.
This researcher underwent the following changes in the course of becoming an art teacher as a researcher through reflective self- examination, and the meaning of the changes could be described as below:
First, the necessity of authentic, professional knowledge was recognized, and recording activities made it possible to get a contextual understanding of backup strategies and to gather the strategies. And a better understanding of the collected support strategies is expected to make it possible to formulate more concrete and precise hypotheses about the next activity. The series of process were videotaped, recorded photographed and noted down, and the interpretation of the records contributed to bolstering factual knowledge. All the procedure produced good results as strategies of reflective practice.
Second, team teaching conference enabled this researcher to convert vague knowledge into pedagogic, factual knowledge. The factual knowledge would make it possible to take a more meaningful approach toward children's lives during project learning, to see the given problem in a new light, to approve of mutual difference in view and interpretation, and eventually to widen the sphere of thinking. And the pedagogic application of the knowledge makes it possible to take a more specific and authentic approach.
Third, there was a change in child view during the project, and this researcher got to listen up to children. They were competent and strong enough to receive something new and strange, and they were liberal and unconventional. This researcher were able to attain spiritual enlightenment thanks to them.
Fourth, the awakening served to redress this researcher's view of education and teacher. The journal showed what troubles this researcher were faced with and stirred up a pursuit of variety, and this researcher's identity as a teacher was rebuilt in the middle of trying to enhance my qualifications by reading professional books, asking for team teaching conference's help, unveiling myself to children or even approving of my own mistake in front of them.